HELEN Hai, GM for overseas investment at Huajian Group, a leading Chinese footwear manufacturer, has a bold vision: in 10 years she wants Ethiopia to be a global hub for the shoe industry, supplying the African, European and American markets and providing jobs for more than 100,000 local workers.

"We are not coming all the way here just to reduce by 10%-20% our costs.… Our aim here is in 10 years’ time to have a new cluster of shoes making," Ms Hai explains. "Definitely we want to build a whole supply chain … I want everything to be produced here."

Last January, Huajian signed a memorandum of understanding with the China-Africa Development Fund, a private equity fund that facilitates Chinese investment on the continent, to jointly invest $2bn over a decade in creating a light-manufacturing special economic zone in Ethiopia.